Don't be a hack...

I just wrote out two whole paragraphs, I was starting to get deep, I was getting somewhere.  Somewhere I thought that my audience, well I am not sure how much of an audience I have, but I was trying to write something that YOU all would like and benefit from.  In the words of Steven Pressfield, I was being a Hack.  I was trying to write what would play well in the eyes of others.  I was still writing something that I believed to be true but I was trying too hard to come up with something that you readers could benefit from and take away from.

Well, no offense, the whole purpose of this blog was for me.  It wasn't really for you.  Don't get me wrong, I am so glad you take the time to read this and I have seen how my journey has encouraged others, and I am oh so glad and it does make me feel good inside.  However, I can't get caught up in that, not yet at least.  I found myself too focused on how many likes, comments, and readers I got.  I would get down when I wouldn't get a lot, and really happy when my blog would get more attention.  I realized I need to step back and remember what this was all about.  This year is about self-improvement for me and my transformation.  I created this blog to keep me accountable.  I have gone longer time spans in between blogs then I was shooting for but its my journey and I am taking it one step at a time.  Change does NOT happen immediately.  I need to remember that everyday!  It takes hard work, dedication, and time.

We are all on our own journey and social media has created an opportunity for us to see other peoples journeys and it can help encourage us in our journey.  That is one beauty of social media; when we see other people succeeding in something, it encores us to do the same in our walk.

So I guess, I am trying to remember I am meeting these goals for me, to be the person I know that I am, and actually become it, and EMBRACE it.

I encourage you to do the same.  Stop trying to BECOME somebody amazing.  You already are that person.  Look within you and embrace that beautiful person that already exists!

Goals, goals goals!

As I wrote goals, goals, goals, the song bills bills bills by Destiny's Child popped in my head!  Which is funny because I have set goals to help out with my bills bills bills, ha.  Ok anyways.... this year for me has been about change, transformation, setting goals and sticking to them.  Most of us probably set a few big goals for the year and have a 5-year plan of some sort in our head.  What we may not always think about is what we need to do on a day to day basis to reach those goals.  We forget that we need to make better choices on a day to day basis which will lead to better habits. Small, smart choices + consistency + time= Radical Difference... (Compound Effect reference again).

Well, life can get the best of us and it can be easy to get off our routines and fall back into our old habits, because we are creatures of habit so if we are not consistently making an effort to make new choices and habits, then we will fall back into our old patterns.

"We are what we repeatedly do". 

-Aristotle

Part of February and March I struggled with sticking to my daily goals because my routine was just chaotic!  From traveling, having family in town, my niece being born, and moving to Dallas, needless to say life was crazy for a bit!  I did not want to give up though and go back to my old ways!  I could already see it happening and I was not willing to let it continue that way.  

I remembered some worksheets I got from the Compound Effect website that I thought would help.  It's a Weekly Rhythm Calendar to track your daily and weekly goals.  I wrote down everything I wanted to accomplish on a weekly basis and I hung it up on my fridge so I can see it everyday!  Just by having that hanging up on my fridge pushes me to complete everything so much more because I get so much satisfaction by putting check marks next to every thing I accomplish!  There is also accountability because my boyfriend sees it and I don't want to disappoint him (even though I know he wouldn't necessarily be disappointed in me, I just know he wants me to live up to my fullest potential).

I am a visual person and I need to see things in order to remember to do them and keep myself accountable.  So if you are like me at all in this way, I encourage you to try it this next week.  Whether you want to eat healthier, work out more, read more, watch TV less, spend more time with family and friends, etc.. it could help you to complete your goals.  And tell people your goals, especially ones you live with and interact with the most; so they can ask you about them and help keep you accountable.  If you need an accountability partner, I can even be that for you.  Let me know!  

Well, here is how I did last week.  I did better and worse in some areas but now I know how I need to adjust for this next week and do better!  I highlighted the ones I needed to do on a daily basis.... I hope to do better this week, but it is a step in the right direction.

Weekly Rhythm

Happiness...

I have been wanting to blog for several days now, but I had no idea what I wanted to blog about.  I went through waves of having too many ideas that I couldn't settle on one, and then waves of nothing, just blank.  It was quite frustrating!  So I kept putting it off until I had this magical, AH HA moment.  That didn't really happen.  Then I remembered my cousin Sam, an awesome blogger and writer sent me this picture incase I ever get the "bloggers block".

Alright Hemingway, I will give it a shot.

I am Happy.

That is right folks, I am happy.  That is what came to mind, and it is the truth.   And NO I am not listening to Pharrell's song Happy... Happiness is a funny thing because it comes and it goes.  It is not a feeling or an emotion that is constant.  There are things in life that will happen that will make you feel unhappy, sad, angry, depressed, etc.  However, I think it is a conscious choice that we can make to be happy.  I am not saying that problems and hardships aren't there in life, but I think we let those things cloud over the little, or big things in life that can make us happy.

I've noticed on Instagram all of the #100happydays.  I finally decided to look into it and it's a challenge to see if you can be happy for 100 days in a row.  It can help you appreciate the things in life that make you happy and to be more optimistic about life.  I think this is a great challenge for anyone, whether you are already very happy, or very unhappy.  

This year is all about changes and transformations, both internally and externally.  I am going to accept this challenge and begin posting my 100 happy days starting tomorrow.  I encourage everyone to try this challenge.  Who is with me?!

100happydays